{"id":2549,"date":"2011-11-05T17:49:09","date_gmt":"2011-11-06T00:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/?p=2549"},"modified":"2011-11-05T17:52:57","modified_gmt":"2011-11-06T00:52:57","slug":"no-stand-alone-hipaa-auth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/index.php\/no-stand-alone-hipaa-auth\/","title":{"rendered":"Estate Planning Pitfall – Not Having A Stand-alone HIPAA Authorization"},"content":{"rendered":"

The research is clear \u2013 we are living longer and needing more medical care as a result<\/a>.\u00a0 This makes the Power of Attorney for Healthcare (also referred to as a Patient Advocate Designation) a critical component of any well-drafted, comprehensive estate plan.<\/span><\/p>\n

But did you know that there is another healthcare-related document that can be critically important to managing your finances when you are unable to do so yourself . . . a document that many estate plans lack?\u00a0 It\u2019s a stand-alone HIPAA authorization and it can help ensure a smooth transition for your financial agent(s) and help your family stay out of court.<\/span><\/p>\n

You see, the trusted family, friends, or financial institutions that many individuals choose to manage their financial affairs if they are incapacitated are not necessarily the same ones chosen to make healthcare decisions.\u00a0 A comprehensive estate plan<\/a> will use Financial Powers of Attorney and Trusts to help ensure your finances can be handled by those you trust most if your are unable to manage them yourself.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many times the authority given to others in Financial Powers of Attorney or Trusts do not become \u201ceffective\u201d until you are incapacitated or otherwise unable to manage your financial affairs.\u00a0 A physician is usually involved in making the determination of incapacity and signing the necessary certifications so that your financial agents can begin managing your financial affairs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Traditional planning and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) can throw a wrench into the situation.\u00a0 How?\u00a0 HIPAA restricts access to your medical records to those who you authorize.\u00a0 Because your financial agents may not be the same as your healthcare agents, any HIPAA authorizing language in your Healthcare Power of Attorney will not cover them (you do<\/em> have HIPAA authorizations in your Healthcare Power of Attorney, right?).\u00a0 Without that authorization, the physician most likely will not sign off on the necessary documentation and your family (and agents) could end up having to go to court to move forward.\u00a0 This would likely lead to costs and delays you no doubt wanted to avoid.<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s where the stand-alone HIPAA authorization comes in.\u00a0 It allows you to name individuals who can have access to your medical records without giving them authority to make medical decisions.\u00a0 Certainly your healthcare agents would be included, but you should also consider including your financial agents and trustees (if you have a trust).\u00a0 Doing so, will help ensure that the transition of authority can be a smooth one and your estate plan works when it is needed most.<\/span><\/p>\n

Michael Lichterman<\/a>\u00a0is an estate planning and business planning attorney who helps families and business owners create a lasting legacy by planning for their\u00a0Whole Family Wealth\u2122<\/a>.\u00a0 This goes beyond merely planning for finances – it’s about who your are and what’s important to you.\u00a0 He focuses on estate and asset protection planning for\u00a0 the “experienced” generation, the “sandwich generation” (caring for parents and children), doctors\/physicians, nurses, lawyers, dentists, professionals with minor children, family owned businesses and pet planning.\u00a0 He takes the “counselor” part of attorney and counselor at law very seriously, and enjoys creating life long relationships with his clients – many of which have become great friends.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The research is clear \u2013 we are living longer and needing more medical care as a result.\u00a0 This makes the Power of Attorney for Healthcare (also referred to as a Patient Advocate Designation) a critical component of any well-drafted, comprehensive estate plan. But did you know that there is another healthcare-related document that can be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[166,16,30,38,18,35,17,124,125,75,40,42,34],"class_list":["post-2549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-estate-planning","tag-estate-planning","tag-grand-rapids-estate-planning","tag-grand-rapids-estate-planning-lawyer","tag-grand-rapids-michigan-estate-planning-lawyer","tag-grand-rapids-trusts","tag-grand-rapids-trusts-lawyer","tag-grand-rapids-wills","tag-michigan-healthcare-power-of-attorney","tag-michigan-living-will","tag-wills-and-trusts-attorney-grand-rapids-michigan","tag-wyoming-mi-estate-planning-lawyer","tag-wyoming-mi-trusts","tag-wyoming-michigan-wills"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2549"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2549\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2558,"href":"https:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2549\/revisions\/2558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}